On a Whim
by Little.Miss.Xanda
Summary: It all started on a whim. He could, he wanted, he did. For there was no one to stop him, no one who could stop him. That little whim changed his entire being to the very core, even if it took him centuries to realize it.
1. A Sliver of Death

****Disclaimer:** ** This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by J. K. Rowling. No money is being made.

 **Written for the Challenge '200 Prompts, in 100 Stories!'**

 **I picked as Additional Rewards:** The Peverells - Antioch, Cadmus, Ignotus - 2 points.

 **It will consist of a small multi-chapter story.**

 **Prompt** **s** **for** **this** **chapter:**

 **Character –** Antioch

 **Other –** Mirror of Erised

* * *

 **Chapter 1 –** **A Sliver of Death**

Humans, in all their misguided beliefs, thought that Life was the very first thing that ever came to be in the Universe. Humans, as happened more often than not, were wrong.

The very first thing to have _ever_ been was Death.

Absolute death.

Before Time, before Space, before anything at all, there was Death and _only_ Death. After Time, after Space, after everything, there would be Death and _only_ Death.

Death was already old when Time began, and he was even older when Life came to be.

Death had always been, would always be.

It was an absolute truth. Nothing would ever change that. Death simply _was_. He was the withering of a bud, the decay of a forest, the last breath on someone's lips, the end of a star, the collapse of a universe. He was everywhere, any time, any place.

Though, it was on someone's last breath that Death _changed_.

As he looked down on the wailing woman holding the stillborn child, Death _interfered_.

He held the new soul in his hands, and, with a gentleness that one wouldn't expect from a being such as he, put the soul back into the stillborn's body – leaving behind a tiny drop of his very essence, of what made Death _Death_.

As the piercing cry of the newborn filled the air the parents were far too consumed by their joy to notice the boy's eyes flash black, darker than a starless sky in the winter, before turning back to the natural newborn blue.

Death's lips twitched, not quite forming a smile, when he saw the endless nothingness that had looked back at him. A perfect replica of his own eyes.

Because of nothing more than a whim of Death that tiny little human would become the very first of a new race.

A race that would later be called Necromancers, Death's children.

* * *

Years, decades, _centuries_ passed while Death watched over the race he had created. His children were feared and venerated; they were adored one day and shunned the next – but they were _his_ and Death had come to care for them, as much as Death could care for another being.

Though amongst all of them there were three that Death favored above all. The youngest three, the _last_ three Necromancers to have been born.

Three brothers whose steps Death shadowed. These three brothers were skilled beyond all others. Their power awing and terrifying in equal measure. They had been personally gifted by Death, something that he hadn't done since that very first time in eras past.

Because he could, because he _wanted to_ , Death granted them a little bit more of his essence.

A caprice that elevated those three brothers beyond all others.

* * *

Antioch was the eldest of the brothers. He was the more brutal of all three. He delighted in destruction and chaos. And Death enjoyed following in his wake.

Antioch explored his Death-given gifts with relish; razing entire towns to the ground only to bring them back.

The sheer joy Antioch displayed when he was surrounded by Death's presence was something that always marveled Death. Death knew for a fact that Antioch would turn the world asunder to bathe in Death's aspect.

Antioch was the definition of devastation and pandemonium; Death couldn't have been more pleased.

Though that didn't mean that Antioch lacked in intellect.

Antioch had a sharp mind, and was an avid worshiper of Death. As such one of his biggest desires was to please Death, to make Death proud, to be close to Death as none other had been before.

Antioch spent years trying to do just that.

Year after year, experiment after experiment.

Until one day Antioch stood in front of his creation and laughed.

A quirk of his lips denoted Death's pleasure.

For the first time since his existence Death showed himself. For a fraction of a second boundless abyss stared into infinite chasm. Then Antioch was on his knees, head bowed, words of worship spilling from his lips.

Death's gravelly chuckle silenced him.

Slowly, Death approached the kneeling man, marveling at the complete lack of fear coming from Antioch, and with great care deposited a wand at his feet; a gift to show his contentment.

Hesitantly, Death caressed the silky, black locks once, twice before dissipating; a gentle breeze through the unruly hair the only sign that he had ever been there.

Shortly after that moment Antioch joined him, and Antioch's creation was lost.

Years later, wizards would stumbled upon it. Many wasting away, losing themselves in front of it – far too weak to resist their deepest desires.

Death watched on as wizard after wizard came across his child's creation never truly knowing what they had found.

Wizards may looked into it and see their heart's desire, but Necromancers... Necromancers looked into it and saw the souls of the departed, a glimpse of the afterlife, a sliver of Death.

Antioch's heart's desire.


	2. Beyond Time and Space

****Disclaimer:** ** This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by J. K. Rowling. No money is being made.

 **Written for the Challenge '200 Prompts, in 100 Stories!'**

 **I picked as Additional Rewards:** The Peverells - Antioch, Cadmus, Ignotus - 2 points.

 **It will consist of a small multi-chapter story.**

 **Prompt** **s** **for** **this** **chapter:**

 **Character –** Cadmus

 **Other –** The Time Turner

* * *

 **Chapter 2 – Beyond Time and Space**

Time was meaningless to Death, it had always been. So when Antioch passed Death did not grieve. He simply went to a time where Antioch still was. He could spend eternity in a single moment in time, so he did.

He watched his child, from birth to death.

Lifetimes passed, worlds died and were reborn.

And Death still watched.

He watched Antioch smile and laugh with his brothers. He saw them discovering their powers and exploring them together. He saw how their bond grew stronger, and how utterly happy they were. His youngest children, the three strongest Necromancers to have ever existed.

Death looked away from the laughing brothers when he felt a slight shift in time. It was nothing more than a little nudge, tiny even, but it was an anomaly nonetheless.

Another minuscule prod followed before a slight rip appeared right in front of Death.

Surprise wasn't an emotion that Death was accustomed to, though when he saw Cadmus tumble out of the small rip in Time and Space surprise was the most predominant emotion, followed rather closely by pride.

Endless black meet starless sky.

Cadmus knelt, supplications of absolution filling the space between them.

Death glanced at the laughing brothers before his timeless gaze settled on his kneeling child once more. He should have suspected, he should have _known_.

Cadmus had always adored his older brother. They had been closer to each other than to anyone else, aside from their little brother whom both doted on. Of course Cadmus would do anything to see his older brother once more, even if that meant shattering the barrier of Time and Space.

Slowly, softly, Death caressed Cadmus cheek; half formed words freezing before being uttered.

His poor child, how he must have suffered. There was nothing to forgive, nothing Cadmus should feel guilty for.

A single tear formed in Death's eye, crystallizing as soon as it started to run down his cheek.

Death caught it on the tip of his finger. He encased it in obsidian and gave it to his child. With one last caress he sent Cadmus back to his time.

It didn't surprise Death at all when Cadmus joined his brother not long after.

Years later wizards would find and recreate Cadmus' greatest achievement. They would brag about bending the rules of time, of doing what no one else could.

Never knowing that a Necromancer wouldn't merely bend the rules of time – a Necromancer would completely shatter them.


	3. A Little Bit of Comfort

****Disclaimer:** ** This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by J. K. Rowling. No money is being made.

 **Written for the Challenge '200 Prompts, in 100 Stories!'**

 **I picked as Additional Rewards:** The Peverells - Antioch, Cadmus, Ignotus - 2 points.

 **It will consist of a small multi-chapter story.**

 **Prompt** **s** **for** **this** **chapter:**

 **Character –** Ignotus

 **Other –** Pensieve

* * *

 **Chapter 3 – A Little** **B** **it of Comfort**

Death had learned with Cadmus. The moment Cadmus passed Death started following Ignotus' every step. He would not let the last of his children, the last Necromancer, suffer alone.

Death knew just how attached to his brothers Ignotus was, how the younger Necromancer had practically worshiped them.

If Death didn't know what he did then he would believe that Ignotus had moved on when he started a family of his own. Of course no Necromancer could be found amongst Ignotus' children and only Death saw how much that fact pained his youngest child.

Death had known of course that there would not be any more Necromancers. They would fall into oblivion, the human race never knowing that Death's children had once walked amongst them. It was as it should be.

Ignotus knew that too, almost an intrinsic knowledge that came from his close connection with Death. That didn't change the fact that it pained Death's last child to see his own children growing up without ever being able to share that precious gift with each other.

Ignotus though was every bit as gifted as his brothers had been, and his desperate need to see his brothers made him even more determined to succeed.

Death had been tempted to interfere on more than one occasion. Only the silent tears shed every night by his child stayed his hand.

One day Ignotus went back to laughing and smiling, and Death knew.

Nevertheless Death continued by Ignotus' side. He watched as Ignotus outlived his brothers by many years, never renouncing his connection to Death, never blaming him; even when two of his sons fell to Death's embrace.

Then on the eve of the 18th of May of 1291, just before midnight, came the day Death had been expecting.

He looked down at the frail man on the bed as a violent shiver shook the ailing body. Death took a seat on the bed, studying his last child's features. An almost unnoticeable frown adorned Death's visage when another brutal shudder wracked his child's body.

Death took off his cloak, laying it on top of Ignotus. He tucked Ignotus in, offering what comfort he could. Death leaned down and placed a fleeting kiss upon Ignotus forehead.

Midnight came, sweeping with it Ignotus last breath.

It didn't surprise Death when Ignotus greeted him with a laugh and a hug.

Unfathomable darkness locking with eternal night for a fraction of a second before his youngest child had his arms wrapped around him, delighted laughter ringing in his ears.

As time passed the knowledge of Necromancers faded into myth. The three gifts he had given his three most favored children becoming a fable all on their own. Humans speculated about them for years on end, coming up with all manner of explanations for them; though never even coming close to the truth.

Never even considering that the three legendary items where simply a gift from a father to his sons.

In the meanwhile Ignotus' most beloved invention faded into obscurity until wizards once more stumbled upon it. They believed it to be a much older object due to the modified runes Ignotus had used. They marveled at the creation, delighting at being able to see long past memories.

Death watched on as wizards played with it, as children did with shiny new toys. Never truly understanding what they had in their possession.

Wizards could _see_ their memories over and over. Necromancers could _relive_ them.

Death watched on as time passed. No child of his walking the Earth and bringing joy into his existence. He went back to living eternity in moments where his children still where.

Then a small raven-haired child with green eyes stepped in front of a mirror.

His eyes flashed infinite black – he saw the souls of the departed, a glimpse of the afterlife, a sliver of Death.


End file.
